£60m housebuilding fund to be established with stamp duty revenue

The government has set up an annual £60m fund to help communities ‘affected by second homeownership’ using revenue accumulated from stamp duty hikes.

The fund will be allocated to almost 150 councils over five years to assist them in providing affordable housing for first-time buyers in areas of high demand.

Almost £20m is to be given to councils in south west England where the government says 21 per cent of all second-home ownership exists. The south east will get more than £11m with London getting over £2m of the cut.

In the 2016 budget, the government announced it would use some of the funding raised from the stamp duty land tax surcharge on additional properties to communities affected by second homeownership and to address the “crowding out of first time buyers in these communities”.

Housing minister Gavin Barwell says: “The high number of second homes can be a frustration for many who struggle to find an affordable home in their community.

“This new fund will help tackle that by boosting supply and make sure community groups are at the heart of delivering new homes so that this is a country that works for everyone.

“I saw for myself the great work community land trusts do on a recent visit to Cornwall and we want them to do much, much more.”

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